Just a few random TV related events that happened on May 22. Discuss or comment as you please……
[NOTE: Some of these May dates are full of series finales and last episodes. Rather than devote separate lines to each, I will just mention that some of the better-known series that had a May 22 swan song include 3rd Rock From the Sun, Blossom, Kate and Allie, Malcolm and Eddie, Veronica Mars, and Felicity.)
1910: Announcer Johnny Olson (To Tell the Truth, What’s My Line?, Match Game, The Jackie Gleason Show, I’ve Got a Secret, The Price is Right) is born in Windom, Minnesota.
1922: Producer Quinn Martin (The Fugitive, Twelve O'Clock High, The F.B.I., The Invaders, The Streets of San Francisco, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, etc., etc., etc.) is born in New York City. (At least that’s what IMDB says – some sources place his birth in Pennsylvania.)
1942: Actress Barbara Parkins (Peyton Place) is born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
1954: KFXJ-TV (channel 5, now KREX-TV) goes on the air in Grand Junction, Colorado.
1956: KRIS-TV (channel 6) begins broadcasting in Corpus Christi, Texas.
1957: KBTX-TV (channel 3) signs on in Bryan, Texas. They have operated from the same building (on East 29th Street in Bryan) from their first sign-on to today. (The building has been added on and expanded multiple times.)
1958: The dedicatory ceremonies for WRC-TV’s new studios in Washington, D.C., featuring an address by President Eisenhower, are broadcast in color. The videotape of this colorcast survives and has been restored – it is the oldest extant color videotape.
1960: New York’s NBC flagship changes calls from WRCA-TV to WNBC-TV.
1961: Actress Joan Davis (I Married Joan) dies of a heart attack in Palm Springs, California, aged 53.
1978: Actor J.D. Williams (Oz, The Wire) is born in Newark, New Jersey.
1982: With the transfer of ownership from RKO to New England Television (after two years of legal wrangling), the former WNAC-TV (channel 7, Boston) signs on this morning as WNEV-TV.
2001: Actor Whitman Mayo (Sanford and Son, Grady) dies of a heart attack, aged 70, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Ironically, at Grady Memorial Hospital.)
2004: Actor Richard Biggs (Days of Our Lives, Babylon 5) dies suddenly in his home in Los Angeles of complications stemming from aortic dissection, aged 44. (It is the same undiagnosed heart condition that felled John Ritter the previous year.)
2005: Say it ain’t so, Tony! Singer/voice artist Thurl Ravenscroft dies from prostate cancer in Fullerton, California, aged 91. Besides being the voice of Tony the Tiger for an incredible 53 years (over 500 commercials), he is also revered for his performance of the song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” on the animated special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His voice can also be heard in many Disney feature films, as well as throughout the attractions at the various Disney theme parks.
2005: The new “reimagined” Kojak dies a merciful death after just 10 episodes on USA Network. (C’mon....Ving Rhames? As Theo Kojak? There weren’t any bald, Greek, white guys available?) :
(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits. It’s an entirely random selection based on a quick Net search, and is not meant to be comprehensive. So, don’t post nasty messages about “you forgot THIS” or “how could you not mention THAT?” Do so, and I’ll just take my keyboard and go home…..)
[NOTE: Some of these May dates are full of series finales and last episodes. Rather than devote separate lines to each, I will just mention that some of the better-known series that had a May 22 swan song include 3rd Rock From the Sun, Blossom, Kate and Allie, Malcolm and Eddie, Veronica Mars, and Felicity.)
1910: Announcer Johnny Olson (To Tell the Truth, What’s My Line?, Match Game, The Jackie Gleason Show, I’ve Got a Secret, The Price is Right) is born in Windom, Minnesota.
1922: Producer Quinn Martin (The Fugitive, Twelve O'Clock High, The F.B.I., The Invaders, The Streets of San Francisco, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, etc., etc., etc.) is born in New York City. (At least that’s what IMDB says – some sources place his birth in Pennsylvania.)
1942: Actress Barbara Parkins (Peyton Place) is born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
1954: KFXJ-TV (channel 5, now KREX-TV) goes on the air in Grand Junction, Colorado.
1956: KRIS-TV (channel 6) begins broadcasting in Corpus Christi, Texas.
1957: KBTX-TV (channel 3) signs on in Bryan, Texas. They have operated from the same building (on East 29th Street in Bryan) from their first sign-on to today. (The building has been added on and expanded multiple times.)
1958: The dedicatory ceremonies for WRC-TV’s new studios in Washington, D.C., featuring an address by President Eisenhower, are broadcast in color. The videotape of this colorcast survives and has been restored – it is the oldest extant color videotape.
1960: New York’s NBC flagship changes calls from WRCA-TV to WNBC-TV.
1961: Actress Joan Davis (I Married Joan) dies of a heart attack in Palm Springs, California, aged 53.
1978: Actor J.D. Williams (Oz, The Wire) is born in Newark, New Jersey.
1982: With the transfer of ownership from RKO to New England Television (after two years of legal wrangling), the former WNAC-TV (channel 7, Boston) signs on this morning as WNEV-TV.
2001: Actor Whitman Mayo (Sanford and Son, Grady) dies of a heart attack, aged 70, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Ironically, at Grady Memorial Hospital.)
2004: Actor Richard Biggs (Days of Our Lives, Babylon 5) dies suddenly in his home in Los Angeles of complications stemming from aortic dissection, aged 44. (It is the same undiagnosed heart condition that felled John Ritter the previous year.)
2005: Say it ain’t so, Tony! Singer/voice artist Thurl Ravenscroft dies from prostate cancer in Fullerton, California, aged 91. Besides being the voice of Tony the Tiger for an incredible 53 years (over 500 commercials), he is also revered for his performance of the song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” on the animated special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His voice can also be heard in many Disney feature films, as well as throughout the attractions at the various Disney theme parks.
2005: The new “reimagined” Kojak dies a merciful death after just 10 episodes on USA Network. (C’mon....Ving Rhames? As Theo Kojak? There weren’t any bald, Greek, white guys available?) :
(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits. It’s an entirely random selection based on a quick Net search, and is not meant to be comprehensive. So, don’t post nasty messages about “you forgot THIS” or “how could you not mention THAT?” Do so, and I’ll just take my keyboard and go home…..)